Lighter Quicker Cheaper

Hey San Antonio, let's re-imagine public spaces in your neighborhood!

About this project

Share your ideas

Texas Public Radio wants you to think big on a small scale, and tell us how you would re-shape San Antonio using Lighter Quicker Cheaper (LQC) interventions.

LQC is a DIY approach to creating more lively and engaging public spaces that encourages citizens to get experimental and try out a variety of light-weight, low-cost things in the near-term to learn about how a space operates—before making a big investment to permanently re-design a park or plaza.

LQC taps into local talents (e.g. citizens, entrepreneurs, developers, and city staff) to quickly translate a community's vision into reality and build momentum for further improvements.

Whether your neighborhood’s blind spot is a playground where no one plays, a parking lot where cars seldom park, or a vacant area under a highway overpass, you can play an integral role in making that spot into one of the most unique and engaging in town.

Just ask yourself: what would it take to add life to bring people together in that public space? For example, you could:

• Build waist-high garden beds around the edges of the playground and invite local kids & parents to come help paint them: suddenly, you have a brightly-colored community garden feeding the neighborhood.• Cover a blank wall along the side of the underused parking lot with blackboard paint, add chalk, eats, and movable seats, and you have a pop-up community classroom & café that can easily be folded up when the lot is in use.• Bring in a few shipping pallets and add lights, music and people, and you have a potluck dinner table under that once-deserted stretch under the overpass.

Get in touch with your creative self and envision the possibilities of a public space in your neighborhood. From now until June 17, we will be collecting suggestions.

After the ideas have been analyzed for feasibility and effective use of the principles of Lighter Quicker Cheaper, five projects will be selected for a public online vote. The project with the most votes will be realized on September 15, 2012, where the partners will come together to construct the community project.

Timeline:

• May 14 – June 17: Share your ideas here on this site.• June 25: Announcement of five finalists.• July 23 – August 5: Public voting on visual concepts for the five chosen ideas at www.tpr.org.• August 13: Winning LQC project announced.• September 15: Construction of the chosen LQC project.

Stay tuned to KSTX-FM 89.1 and KPAC-FM 88.3 for updates on this project and more information.

Area of Focus

Share your ideas for anywhere in the 1604 beltway area.

More info about the Lighter Quicker Cheaper & Placemaking

What Makes a Successful Place? After evaluating thousands of public spaces around the world, Project for Public Spaces found that successful places have four key qualities.

About the organizations behind this Project

Texas Public Radio, in partnership with the City of San Antonio, Project for Public Spaces, AIA of San Antonio and the San Antonio Public Library, invite you to re-imagine public spaces around the city or in your neighborhood.

San Antonio Center City Development Office

The mission of the Center City Development Office is to facilitate and initiate development and redevelopment of neighborhoods, businesses, and cultural resources in the Inner City Reinvestment/Infill Policy Area (ICR/IP) to foster thriving neighborhoods, including downtown, for the benefit of residents, visitors, and businesses. - View their official site for more information.

Project for Public Spaces (PPS)

An international non-profit planning and design organization with project experience in over 40 countries and 2,500 communities. This app is powered by a PPS modified version of Ushahidi as part of PPS's new Digital Placemaking initiative. Learn more at PPS.org - Follow them on Facebook and on Twitter. For more information about Digital Placemaking at PPS, email Daniel Latorre - danlatorre@pps.org